Featured Affiliate

Green Building

December 4, 2007 03:13 PM - Andrew Hough, Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - The Scottish government said on Tuesday it would review controversial plans by U.S. tycoon Donald Trump to build a $2 billion golfing development in Scotland after they were rejected by the local council.

It said it was intervening because the project, to build two championship golf courses, around 1,000 homes, a luxury hotel and 36 villas on a pristine stretch of northeast Scotland's coast, was too "important" to be dealt with by the council.

December 3, 2007 11:57 AM - Paul Schaefer, ENN

PORTLAND - Residents began this week moving into The Casey condominiums, on track to be the first multifamily residential building in the United States to receive LEED Platinum certification, the highest level of green building.

The Casey is a 16-story building with 61 luxury homes in the heart of Portland's Pearl District, steps from art galleries, restaurants and boutiques. The building incorporates a comprehensive array of sustainable features including solar panels, a green roof and the extensive use of recycled-content and sustainable materials such as wool carpets and FSC-certified wood flooring. It also has a host of energy efficiency features including sophisticated waste heat recovery ventilators in each unit that help the building achieve a 52 percent energy savings over code.

December 3, 2007 11:33 AM - Paul Schaefer, ENN

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Buyers beware - that so-called “Green” product is likely stretching the eco-truth according to the Six Sins of Greenwashing, a study released today by TerraChoice Environmental Marketing.

The Six Sins of Greenwashing found that of 1,018 common consumer products ranging from toothpaste to caulking to shampoo to printers, randomly surveyed for the study, 99% were guilty of “greenwashing.”

A new initiative will help make Chicago’s 1,900 miles (3,000 kilometers) of alleyways more sustainable. The miniature streets behind homes and buildings, used mainly for garbage collection and parking access, keep main roads cleaner and less congested but are prone to flooding. The city’s innovative Green Alley Program promotes improved construction techniques and materials that can improve drainage, reduce runoff, and relieve strain on the city’s aging sewer system.

November 30, 2007 02:22 PM - Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer spending inched up by an unexpectedly small 0.2 percent last month and construction spending tumbled, according to reports on Friday that heightened concerns on the health of the economy.

Heavy or massive objects like masonry, earth, and water can hold a lot of heat. Because of this capacity to act as a heat source (warming their surroundings) or a heat sink (drawing heat from and cooling their surroundings), materials with thermal mass affect comfort both indoors and out. (Oceans and lakes, for example, moderate air temperature changes because their thermal mass acts as a buffer.)

Buildings in climates with large diurnal (day-night) temperature swings, like the high-elevation Southwest, offer a classic example of the time-lag effect of thermal mass. Adobe and other types of masonry walls absorb intense daytime heat, keeping temperatures comfortable inside. During the cold night, the walls pour out their accumulated heat, keeping the inside warm. By morning the walls, if they are designed correctly, can again absorb the daytime heat.

The US Green Building Council (USGBC) announced last week during Greenbuild that the William J Clinton Presidential Library has earned Platinum Certification under the LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) Rating System. President Clinton received the certification plaque from USGBC CEO Rick Fedrizzi. This certification recognizes that the Clinton Library in Little Rock, Arkansas, has implemented a continuous sustainability improvement process guided by LEED-EB. Leonardo Academy was the primary LEED consultant for this project, supporting the successful implementation of LEED-EB and advancing the Library’s LEED rating from the Silver Certification earned under LEED for New Construction (LEED-NC) to the Platinum Certification earned under LEED-EB.

DUBAI, U.A.E.—The Grand Hyatt Dubai has converted its main water heating system from diesel oil-fired to solar powered in a bid to reduce climate change and running costs. With the UAE’s carbon footprint spiraling, causing the country to be one of the largest emitters of carbon dioxide per capita in the world, the Grand Hyatt Dubai’s new solar panel heating system will reduce its own emissions dramatically.

No matter what size your facility is, chances are great that it can benefit from the latest window film advancements. In fact, some window films can help generate up to 30 percent savings in heating and cooling costs. Once questioned because of stories about bubbling or fading—mostly untrue according to experts—window film today is a reliable product that can provide many benefits.

“Window film saves everybody money,” says Jeff Cohen, owner of Kustom Options, a window film installer based in Murrieta, Calif.